I’m having a bit of a plumbing issue. When I flush the toilet, sewer gasses come into the house. Sometimes, the smell isn’t too bad. Other times, it is overpowering. Does anyone have suggestions on how to remedy this?
Coming in from where? The toilet? The sink next to the toilet? Some other drain elsewhere in the house?
Is it just the smell or do you notice anything else.
Without anything else to go on, the first thing to suggest is that you need to get up on your roof and see if there’s something obviously wrong with the vent like a birds nest on it or it’s clogged up with leaves.
Do you have any drains that you haven’t used in a long time? If so, run some water through them occasionally, because the trap can dry out and let smells through.
I’ve got a fairly modern house without a vent stack up on the roof.
Instead we’ve got valves on some of the sinks which allow air to be sucked down, but not back up, this way you don’t get any pressure negative pressure when you flesh the toilet that gets “burped”.
If you’ve not got a vent stack, check your valves.
At the toilet itself, the gasket at the base of the toilet may be worn out.
If it’s coming from some other point, things to check:
Make sure all drains have water in them. If a rarely used drain dries out, then sewer gases can rise from there.
All roof vents. I get up on the roof and use a long enough drain snake to make sure they are clean. I guess running water from a hose for a while sort of works, too. It will either clear them or over flow them (in which case you know which one it is).
All plumbing joints past drains. Look for good old water leaks first. Depending on design, flow, etc. some might not leak noticeable water but will leak gas.
I hadn’t thought about the smell coming from somewhere else. There is a bathtub and a sink in the bathroom and both get used regularly, so their traps should have water in them. The smell is definitely in the bathroom. The clothes washer is right outside the bathroom, but there doesn’t seem to be any smell emanating from there – other than fresh laundry goodness. The kitchen sink doesn’t seem to have a problem.
There isn’t a sound coming from the sink or bathtub, so I don’t think gas is burping up through the traps. Is there a moment when the toilet flushes that its own trap is void of water? Could that be the culprit?
There could be, but it would be in that split second when you don’t see much water in there. But even during that time, the water should be pushing down (and/or pulling air in behind it). If there was any pressure on the system, you’d be hearing gurgling sounds (unless there’s an empty trap somewhere) throughout the day.
However, if you do have a venting issue, flushing the toilet could cause the trap in the sink or bathtub to empty.
Do you ever notice the level of the water in the toilet to be lower than you’d expect it. Especially after something like doing laundry or taking a shower?
The house in question is actual a duplex I rent from my employer while I am at work. So, I was gone for about six weeks this summer. When I returned, there was no water in the toilet bowl and a bit of gravel at the very bottom. I didn’t look in the tank. A couple of flushes and everything was back to normal.
I had this odor problem before I left for the summer, too.